wongrs

i don't invest in oil companies because many times they don't operate in a way that i would consider to be socially responsible. there have been many criticisms of large oil companies operating internationally (royal dutch shell in nigeria, exxon mobil in the middle east etc) where companies practices weren't very cool. corrupt officials and low taxes/royalties kept the money at the top without it trickling down to local economies. some of these companies have improved their practices in the past few years in light of development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies. i also do not like some of the environmental impacts of development in north america. large scale land impacts of oil sands (both mining and insitu) as well as water impacts of coalbed methane extraction are good examples. i also do not invest in military or arms manufacturers. i try not to invest in companies that i believe do not have an reputable CSR policy. i am currently investing in SRI (socially responsible investments). perhaps they don't have the same financial returns but as long as i can help it, i refuse to be a part of any organization where they have questionable operating practices in places with less stringent operating regulations. i'm not preaching, i'm just sharing my opinion. if i made all my decisions based on how much money i could make/save, i would do a lot of things differently than i do. i would poach bull trout because it would save me money at the grocery store. i'd steal from anyone whenever it was convenient, i'd throw my used batteries in the trash, i'd evade taxes and i'd litter on the street if there was a cost of disposal. i don't do these things because life isn't entirely about money....more like it's about well-being. btw, exxon mobil still hasn't paid their penalty for the valdez spill in the 80s to the US federal government....i don't think that's very cool. do you? i agree with you. the oil and gas sector in canada gives a lot of social/economic benefits in canada. currently though, oil sands projects have been criticized for drawing capital from the rest of the country because the projects are on such a large scale and the fact that there's only a limited amount of capital to invest. i do not want to see the oil and gas industry destroyed either. studies rely heavily upon assumptions made. treating these studies fairly means having them peer reviewed. many industry studies don't even publish their assumptions or factors. look at the recent study that tried to claim that a hummer gives less emissions over it's life than a smaller car. absolutely ridiculous and refuted by an entire panel of life cycle assessment experts. that kind of *hit doesn't fly and it should be laughed at because it's a laughable study. you have to look at the motivations of the authors to make a sound judgement call. wind turbine effects on avian species is highly dependent on location. location location location. some studies show low impacts to bats because there aren't many bats around. in SW alberta, there are local and migratory bats which is a problem. this is being studied by an ecology lab in UofC as you've noted. is a wind turbine worse than prairie grassland. yes if you look at that site only. but i like to think that a wind turbine killing some bats is better than a coal plant with it's emissions and mining displacing much more habitat on a per MWh basis. doing whatever you can within your means is good. even the david suzuki foundation would be happy with that. contrary to popular belief, they are not asking you to pack up your family and move into a cave. you can read more about hot water home changes here: http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your...m/mytopic=13060 it depends on how you heat your home and your hot water. the energy that dissipates will just go to the interior of your home so if you have a hot water heater and a gas heated home, then you're basically substituting electric heat for gas heat (which is probably more expensive). you'd be saving money but the total GJ delivered to your home would be the same. the insulation is just styrofoam pipe wrap that should be available from a lot of places (home depot, crappy tire, home hardware etc). getting back on topic, conservatives axed the energuide program because they thought that building energy efficiency wasn't an important program to keep. they then streamlined it and re-implemented a smaller scale program designed to do the same thing under the banner ecoEnergy. same program but much smaller. if you like energy efficiency, then conservatives are not where it's at IMO.

solar thermal, solar PV, wind and run of river are all options. some more expensive than others. entirely disagree with you. many parts of the oil industry have received a great deal in subsidies from the federal and provincial governments. look at the favourable tax scheme on oil sands or the built infrastructure for the logging industry. i'd like to see a report comparing renewables versus other industries that includes tax breaks, subsidies, built infrastructure AND EXTERNALIZED SOCIAL/ECONOMIC COSTS and compare costs on an apples-to-apples basis. if you have this, please share. check out the health impacts of coal power in Ontario (yeah yeah, i know ontario sucks. chretian and trudeau suck blah blah blah): -$10 BILLION in health care costs annually (Ontario Medical Association) -2000 premature deaths per year http://www.electricitychoices.org/coal.html that doesn't even begin to address all the heavy metals and acid rain emissions that come out. if you were to try to 'remediate' all that crap, what do you think that would cost? the answer is a lot. you are correct. wind mills harm various avian species. there is a lot of research going on currently in SW alberta. when the wind industry developed, like every other industry on the planet, it didn't take into consideration all environmental impacts. Take a look at altamont pass in california that was built on a bird migration route. http://www.eoearth.org/article/Altamont_Pass,_California it would be optimal to do extensive research on an area before a build. but these types of facilities WILL DEFINITELY have a negative impact on some wildlife but on a much smaller intensity than coal or oil/gas extraction. think about coal for a second. there's the coal mine (mine tailings, acid drainage, land impacts, water impacts) then the transport of coal to facility, combustion of coal and then the landfill of the leftover crap and heavy metals. again, internalize all the costs and on a per MWH basis, i'm sure renewables will turn out way better. hell, solar PV is already somewhat comparable to the cost of conventional power generation as it is. i whole-heartedly agree with you. reducing your own impact should be the first step. anyone who preaches conservation and doesn't practice it is a hypocrite. perhaps al gore fits into this category, who knows. also, many retrofits are much simpler than the $80,000 figure you quoted. many pay for themselves over and over again. good examples are rechargeable batteries, CFL lightbulbs or LED light bulbs (yes, heavy metals can be dealt with), high efficiency furnaces, regular maintenance to your vehicle, weather proofing your house for excessive draft, shutting your curtains/blinds, buying a rain barrel, shutting down your beer fridge (models that are 15 years old can use 3X as much power to keep things cold), putting daily timers to shut lights down at night, timers to reduce heat while you sleep, low flow showerheads, insulating your hot water pipes etc etc etc. there are many things you can do around the house that will cost you practically nothing and can save a bunch of money and energy. anyways, there is still value in electing a party that gives a damn about environmental issues. if you think the environment is important and you can't bring yourself to vote liberal or NDP, then there's still the green party available.

another item to add is to prevent the handling of fish in a vertical hanging position. with longer fish, their internal organs can get damaged from holding fish upright by the tail or the head. (or so i've heard).

Signed.

An elderly man goes into the drop-in clinic for a digestion problem with his elderly wife. They are both brought into an examination room to discuss the symptoms. After hearing the symptoms, the doctor says "Well, to run the appropriate tests we're going to need a blood sample, a urine sample and a stool sample". The elderly man is hard of hearing and replies "What sonny?". The doctor repeats himself "We're going to need a blood sample, a urine sample and a stool sample to run some some tests". The elderly man still can't hear him. "What?". Then his wife, fed up with his hearing shouts in his ear "Just give him your underpants!".

investing in renewables and energy efficiency means diversifying the economy (rather than putting all our eggs in one basket). there is a huge turnaround happening in the US and in Canada regarding regional regulations for greenhouse gases (whether you believe in GW or not). many jurisdictions are in the process of implementing caps or taxes on GHG emissions meaning that there will be a large uptake of renewable and energy efficiency technologies. if we invested in that sector now, then the entire continent would be looking to Canada to provide those solutions. creating the infrastructure, technology, training and consulting services in Canada would be a smart thing IMO. otherwise, the US will get it done and when Canada finally gets regulations in place, guess what, we'll be buying foreign technology which means a net export of $$$ leaving the country (which is exactly what harper was bitching about CDM carbon offsets). it is a major opportunity that is going to pass us by. it's ok, because we have a thousand years of coal and the largest heavy oil deposit in the world. we'll just deal with the heavy metals emissions, land use impacts and water consumption of those resources. that's a better strategy. want to know what comes out of a coal plant every year? check this: http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/querysite/facility...eport_year=2006

i'm pretty sure that if i caught one like this i'd *hit my pants bigtime.

dang!

wicked pics esleech. that first rainbow looks like homestarrunner.

an aquarium net works well and will cost you <5 bucks.

sea choice is a good start. there are a number of other organizations that put out cards that you can carry in your wallet to determine what fishes have been caught sustainably and which ones haven't. you can access one such card here: http://www.seachoice.org/files/asset/file/...e_Alertcard.pdf we carry ours around with us to give us pointers when we're at the store or restaurant as to what/what not to purchase. if you look for it, you can find sustainably caught fish. globefish in calgary serves wild pacific salmon that you can pay slightly more for over the atlantic farmed alternative. you can also purchase tuna that is sustainably caught in grocery stores but it's slightly more expensive than regular tuna. you can also purchase sustainably harvested/raised shrimp that doesn't destroy mangrove forests in asia. given the fact that fisheries are abused big-time, i think it's important to support those companies that are trying to do it right rather than giving my money to companies that don't give a damn and bottom trawl and by-catch everything to smithereens. we like to reward responsible business practices and punish bad practices, don't we? and that's just for human consumption. exacerbating these problems to feed pets is, well, just giving me a headache.

looks like a fun event. the sponsors look awesome. i'd come if i was in town. it's a great way to meet up with your fellow fisher-people and learn some new tips and tricks for the bow.

hey, good for you Matt! let me know if you have any questions/concerns on the logistics of last year's cleanup. i'd be happy to discuss. rich

the things that make casting difficult for a beginner are 3 things (not that i'm a pro-star or anything): 1) weight on the fly 2) wind resistance of the fly 3) having multiple hinge points (multiple flies, indicators, swivels, split shots, split rings etc). 1) the weight of the fly will have an impact on how you cast. for a single fly, a dry should be the lightest and nymph the next lightest and a streamer the heaviest. there are exceptions but this is the general rule. the easiest to cast should be the lightest fly. a small dry (like a size #14-#20 parachute adams or elk hair caddis) you should be able to false-cast no problemo. if you're having problems with this step, then feel free to re-post or pm if you'd like more advice. 2) the wind resistance of the fly will impact how easy it is to throw out there and turn over. the bushier the fly, the harder it is to zing out there and turn over (which is a fancy way of saying that your leader straightens out). this is also impacted by the stiffness of your leader and tippet material. if you are chucking small dries and you find that your leader/tippet is not extending past the end of the fly line, then it is probable that you need to change the stiffness of you leader and tippet. 3) having multiple 'things' on your line will make things difficult. these can include any of the above things i mentioned before. stick with 1 fly for now until the casting is down. once it is down, you can add extras to your rig. once you add extras, i'd also suggest opening your loop up (cross that bridge when you get there). to summarize, if you want to improve casting, then i suggest casting small dries (#12-20) on a 9' tapered leader. get that down and then move to casting a single nymph and then move to multiple jazz on your rig. if you want to start nymphing with an indicator and 2 flies right off the bat, then learn how to roll-cast or cast with a larger loop. my 2 cents. hope this helps.

thanks. i'll be breezing through town next week staying close to bragg creek and wanted to know if it was fishable (by the regs). i hope it won't be too too too dirty.

Can someone verify for me that canyon creek on the Elbow River is upstream (west) of Bragg Creek? In other words, as of June 16th, the Elbow is legally fishable downstream of Bragg Creek. I can only find vague descriptions of Canyon Creek on the interweb. Elbow River -from headwaters downstream to Elbow Falls (16-22-6-W5) & tributaries except Quirk Creek. June 16 to Oct. 31 – Brook Trout limit 2; Other Trout limit 0; Bait Ban. Nov. 1 to June 15 – CLOSED -from Elbow Falls downstream to Canyon Creek – CLOSED -from Canyon Creek downstream to Glenmore Reservoir, & tributaries including former Allen Bill Pond, except Canyon Creek June 16 to Oct. 31 – Trout limit 2; Cutthroat and Rainbow over 35 cm; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Maggots are the only bait allowed and only in the river from Aug. 16 to Oct. 31. Nov. 1 to June 15 – CLOSED -from Glenmore Reservoir downstream to Bow River CLOSED Apr. 1 to May 31 and Oct. 1 to Nov. 30 June 1 to Sept. 30 and Dec. 1 to Mar. 31– Trout limit 1 under 35 cm; All trout over 35 cm must be released; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Maggots are the only bait allowed and only in the river from Aug. 16 to Sept. 30.

http://www.thecomedynetwork.ca/shows/showd...s.aspx?sid=3351 colbert report parody. check part 2 of 4 for 06/10/08 @ the 3:32 mark. amusing.

that looks really good. it's inspired some new ideas for me. thanks for posting.

perhaps a disk cleanup function that compressed, renamed and moved them somewhere else?

found this while avoiding work just now: http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/canada/can113.php http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/canada/can114.php check it!

wicked pics max as always.

i just bought the mec hydrofoil jacket that is currently on sale. $60 in select colours/sizes. worked great this past weekend.

if you're into star wars that is: http://www.nikkoamerica.com/nhe/dvd_projector_video.html

Good for you Nick for taking it to your MLA. That's the democratic way. They say that 1 visit is worth 50 phone calls and 50 phone calls is worth 2500 emails or whatever the numbers are. I tried to meet with my MP while I was in Calgary a number of times (Jim Prentice, heard of that guy?). We'd make appointments with his helper person who would continually cancel last minute on us. It was awesome. Anyways, I don't have any photos for you but I would like to write you a short letter of support for your meeting with your MLA. It might help to show that you share the same views as others when it comes to this particular issue. It will be harder for your MLA to dismiss your concerns as 'from that wingnut guy that came in to see me that day'. If interested, please send me a PM. Perhaps others would do the same or put their name to a list?

there was somebody a few years back that wanted to canoe from carsland downstream somewhere. they went to put their canoe in and there wasn't enough flow to float the canoe. think i saw it in a bow river keeper video. ag does use quite a bit of water (something in the area of 70%+ as i recall).